Can I arrive in Canada while waiting for my PR to be approved?

[mrs.sweden]

Hello everyone!

I have a few questions that I hope someone can answer for me!

Me and my Canadian husband are apply for my PR while we live here in Sweden. We are sending the application in January and after that all we have to do is wait. I was wondering though if its possible to arrive and stay in Canada before the application has been approved? We really want to celebrate christmas in Canada next year (2015) but I dont know if my PR would be done before then. But Im guessing it would only be a matter of a month or so that I would stay in Canada as a visitor before the PR comes through. We wanna book our flights early but I wanna make sure It wont be a problem arriving in Canada before the PR is approved since we applied from outside of Canada

And how do I find out that the PR has been approved? Do they send anything to my adress here in Sweden or do I get it in my email?

And I was also wondering if I can count on the process taking as long as CIC says? 11 months plus the time for the sponsor application to be approved. Or does it usually come through faster if there is no problem with the application?

Would be so thankful if someone could help me out!

Thanks!

 

[rhcohen2014]

1. yes you can go to canada and enter as a visitor when you have an outland application submitted. it's always best to carry copies of reciepts from your application and/or your sponsor's SA letter. They will confirm your application in their system and let you in. it's also a good idea to be prepared to show ties back to your home country (paystubs, lease, mortgage, etc). Never suggest you are planning to "move" or "live" there, you are merely only "visiting", and if you want to visit until your pr is approved, then that is ok. as long as you are not bringing all of your belongings or act like you plan to work illegally, you should be ok.

2. When PR is approved, the visa office will mail you the approval paper. there is no email or anything beforehand to notify you they are coming. generally people figure it out before receiving the paperwork because their status on ECAS changed to decision made (DM). The papers will be mailed to the address listed on the application. if you plan to not be at that address when you expect approval, then you will want to change your address with CIC. it is perfectly acceptable to use a canadian address. What's important to remember is that changing your address ONLY online does not guarantee your new address is connected to your file, so it's best to also email the visa office directly with the updated information.

3. to know how long it takes for your visa office, you will want to search this forum for the thread specific to your office. i am not sure where your application is processing? is it London? most visa offices have threads and also have a spreadsheet that tracks the progress of applicants on this forum. you will find the times posted on CIC's website are not accurate at all. Generally, those posted times are for "Worst case scenarios" and people actually get approved way sooner.

 

[mrs.sweden]

Thank you so much for the answer!

I forgot to put that it is the London office we are applying through, I'll see if I can find something here on the forum!

Thank you once again!

 

[pegasusyt]

Yeah, that's what I did. I was in Canada on a visitor visa for 9 months until I got my PR and then I 'landed' (just drove across the border to NY and back). Good luck!